Gadgets (and related applications, such as widgets) may allow users to personalize, customize and enhance their computing devices, software applications, and/or webpages. For example, a user may add, to the home screen of their mobile phone, one or more gadgets that display interactive elements such as animated clocks or graphics with updated weather information. In addition, application and web developers may utilize gadgets to supplement the design and increase the attractiveness of their products.
Unfortunately, gadgets may be vulnerable to attacks that allow external parties to hijack or control computing devices running the gadgets. For example, processes that run gadgets may contain inherent security deficiencies that enable local and/or remote exploits (via, e.g., injections of shellcode). These exploits may result in security breaches such as the unauthorized distribution of sensitive data and/or a user's loss of control of a computing device. Traditional security systems that protect computing devices from maliciously-exploited gadgets may attempt to identify and/or terminate processes that contain gadgets. However, these conventional systems may require extensive time and computing resources to determine whether a process is a gadget. The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for improved systems and methods for detecting and preventing gadgets from being maliciously exploited.